


Love and Lovely

by moonmoth (greyvvardenfell)



Series: Fictober 2019 [17]
Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-17
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:28:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23571616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyvvardenfell/pseuds/moonmoth
Summary: Reyja and Julian discuss their future during the Masquerade.
Relationships: Apprentice/Julian Devorak
Series: Fictober 2019 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1696495
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	Love and Lovely

**Author's Note:**

> For the Fictober prompt: "That's what I'm talking about!"

“Oh, this song…” Julian’s eyes widened, the corners of his mouth lifting into a broad smile. “That’s what I’m talking about! I love this song!”

It wasn’t a tune Reyja recognized, but the joy that spilled from him as he pivoted on his heel to sweep her into a tight embrace, dipping her before she even realized he’d moved, drew peals of surprised laughter from her anyway. His strong hands supported her under head and mid-back, his nose close enough that they could almost touch. One of his long legs stretched back beside hers with the other providing a solid base against which she was braced. She couldn’t fall. He wouldn’t let her.

“Ah, but I love that song even more,” he murmured. “Your happiness is the sweetest music of all, my darling.”

Behind her mask, Reyja blushed. “You’re just saying that.”

“Whyever would I lie to you? Neither of us have anything to gain from that.” Julian slowly guided her upright, staying close.

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I’m still just… I’m not used to people being nice to me for no reason.”

“And if I gave you a reason?”

She shrugged awkwardly, tightening her grasp on the feathered lapels of his jacket. “I don’t know,” she repeated.

For a moment, he let the conversation lapse, swaying gently with her to the pulse of the music. When he spoke again, his words were strained, eggshell-delicate like he was a breath away from crying.

“I care for you enormously, my dear. Perhaps even…” His unsteady eye contact fell away completely. “Well, suffice it to say I would do anything to keep a smile on your face and laughter in your eyes, Reyja.”

Her heart shuddered, warmed to its core. She pressed her cheek to his breastbone and felt his arms settle around her shoulders, keeping her there.

“Of course,” Julian continued, the vibrations of his deep voice rumbling pleasantly under her ear. “Such is life that I won’t always be able to do so. But when bad things happen, ahh, darling, I would bear the burden with you in a heartbeat.”

Reyja lifted her head to rest her chin against his chest instead, peering up into the soft gray eyes visible behind his beaked mask. “And I would help you carry yours. I don’t want you to think you have to do everything and get nothing back.”

He laughed low in his throat. “Get nothing back? I would have you.”

“Having me means that I can take care of you, too.”

Julian brought one hand up to stroke her temple, then cupped the back of her head before leaning down to press a gentle kiss to her lips. “There was a time I would have run at the very idea of anyone putting themselves out over something so unnecessary,” he said softly. “Not so long ago, in fact.”

“I remember that.” Reyja chuckled. “You did run.”

“Yes, well… yes. I did. And thank every god you ran after me.”

“I’m nothing if not persistent.”

The music soared into a different key, nearing its climax. Julian glanced at the band as if for reassurance, nodded to himself, and looked back at her with a new light in his eyes. “I needed it. I still do. You’re, erm. You have— no. What I mean is, ah, after all this...?”

Reyja cleared her throat. She knew what he was asking, even if he couldn't quite say it. “We can talk about the logistics and stuff, but no matter what, I don't want what we have to end.”

Relief, so pure it was nearly tangible, knocked a gasp loose from Julian’s lungs as he pulled her into an even tighter hug. “Oh, my darling Reyja! I’ve dreamt of a future before, but it never seemed within reach. It doesn’t feel like a dream with you, my dear.” He twirled, the folds of her dress swinging and rustling as they wrapped around his legs and fell back.

She laughed aloud again, clinging to his arms. But her smile fell away as they came to a stop. “I don’t know that I ever even got to the dreaming stage. Someone like you, finding someone like me?” She shook her head. “An impossible fantasy.”

Their song finished on a quavering high note, bowed by a single vielle, and well-earned applause broke out from the crowd, mixed with cheers and shouts of appreciation, but behind his mask, Julian's brow furrowed, his hands fluttering over her shoulders, unsure of where to rest. “But—”

“We’re alike in so many ways. I think it’s what… what makes us work?” She grabbed him by the wrists and settled his nervous fingers on her hips, holding them there until he took hold of his own accord. “We understand each other. At least I feel like we do. And I can’t even say how much I would hate to lose that.”

“You won’t!” He nearly tripped over the words in his haste to get them out. “No one could be better for me than you, love.”

Love. _Love_. It was the first time the word had crossed either of their lips, though certainly not their minds. Julian realized what he’d said as soon as he said it and paled, releasing his grip while attempting to sort out an apology through the scrambled maelstrom of panic his head became.

“Ah, what I mean is, erm… Not that I don’t but, er, the, ah, the—”

“I like that.”

“—strictly speaking, so I… what did you say?”

“That. What you said. ‘No one could be better for me.’ It’s like, well…” Reyja chewed the inside of her cheek for a moment as color rose on her face. “Neither of us are perfect, but we're just weird enough to fit together, y'know? And that's nice. Soothing, I think. Reassuring.”

For the second time that night, but not the last, Julian felt his limbs grow weak with relief. “There is no one I would rather be tailored to,” he said fiercely, eyes brimming with emotion. “I know I want to be with you more than I could ever possibly express, no matter how many words or how much time I was given. Reyja…” He swallowed hard. “Please?”

“We want the same thing, lovely.” She buried her hand in the thick curls at the back of his neck and scratched gently at his scalp. He could have purred, both from the sensation and the warmth ignited by her new pet name. “There’s no need to ask.”

“Ah, but I’ll always ask.” He grinned his famous grin and cocked his head to a rakish angle. “I respect you far too much to do anything else.”

She couldn’t help but return the smile, raising her own eyebrow in turn. “You know I’ll always say yes.”

“That’s no guarantee, my dear. Wouldn’t you rather declare your intentions?”

“Funny, coming from you, Mr. Dance-Around-The-Subject.”

Julian pursed his lips, but his laughter still escaped. A new song began, a merry waltz with a heavy downbeat. “Guilty as charged, darling, guilty as charged. Perhaps a dance of a different sort is in order, then? To celebrate?“

When she nodded, he steered her gently onto the dancefloor again, hands once more secure on her wide hips as his eyes roved her face. Reyja looked back with pride and hope and happiness, blended together into a beaming light that glowed like candleflame, illuminating only him.

"Yes,” he breathed, feeling her body respond to his as he guided her through a simple waltz. “Yes, my love, that’s it exactly.”

“I like that, too.”

“Hm?”

“What you're calling me now.”

“Ah. Yes, well. It, ah. It feels appropriate.”

“Yeah.” Reyja squeezed his hand. “Yeah, it does.”


End file.
